Bathinda refinery capacity to be increased to 11.3 MTPA

Guru Gobind Singh Bhatinda Refinery’s capacity will be increased to 11.3 MTPA to meet the increasing demand for petroleum products in North India. The refinery which was dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister in April 2012, presently has a refining capacity of 9 MTPA. The expansion project which also includes integrated petrochemical stabilization, is estimated to cost Rs. 9,150 crore. Of this, Rs. 6,800 crore will be funded through debts from banks and financial institutions and the balance will come in as equity contribution by the promoters. The project is scheduled for completion in 2015-16. Engineers India is the project consultant for the project.

Bathinda refinery project which was initiated in the late 1990’s has seen change of partners on numerous occasions in the past. Initially, Saudi oil major, Aramco had shown interest in the project. However, Saudi company withdrew from the project as it had teamed up with Shell for a separate downstream venture. Later on Exxon evinced interest in the project. But Exxon too developed cold feet on seeing two major refinery projects coming up in Gujarat. Finally, HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd, a joint venture between HPCL and Mittal Energy Investment saw the project through its successful completion. At present, HPCL and Mittal Energy hold 49% each stake in the company while the balance is held by financial institutions such as the SBI, IFCI and HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company. 9 MTPA Bathinda refinery was set up at an estimated cost of Rs. 21,500 crore. Bathinda refinery has 80 per cent off-take agreement with HPCL